Wireless power transmission systems and methods with selective signal damping active mode

ABSTRACT

A method for operating a wireless power transmission system includes providing a driving signal for driving a transmission antenna of the wireless power transmission system, the driving signal based, at least, on an operating frequency for the wireless power transmission system. The method further includes receiving, at a damping transistor of a damping circuit, damping signals for switching the damping transistor to one of an active mode and an inactive mode to control signal damping during transmission or receipt of wireless data signals. The method further includes selectively damping, by the damping circuit, the AC wireless signals, during transmission of the wireless data signals if the damping signals set the damping circuit to the active mode.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods forwireless transfer of electrical power and/or electrical data signals,and, more particularly, to high frequency wireless power transfer atelevated power levels, while maintaining communications fidelity.

BACKGROUND

Wireless connection systems are used in a variety of applications forthe wireless transfer of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy, electrical data signals, among other knownwirelessly transmittable signals. Such systems often use inductivewireless power transfer, which occurs when magnetic fields created by atransmitting element induce an electric field, and hence, an electriccurrent, in a receiving element. These transmitting and receivingelements will often take the form of coiled wires and/or antennas.

Transmission of one or more of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy and/or electronic data signals from one of suchcoiled antennas to another, generally, operates at an operatingfrequency and/or an operating frequency range. The operating frequencymay be selected for a variety of reasons, such as, but not limited to,power transfer characteristics, power level characteristics,self-resonant frequency restraints, design requirements, adherence tostandards bodies' required characteristics (e.g. electromagneticinterference (EMI) requirements, specific absorption rate (SAR)requirements, among other things), bill of materials (BOM), and/or formfactor constraints, among other things. It is to be noted that,“self-resonating frequency,” as known to those having skill in the art,generally refers to the resonant frequency of a passive component (e.g.,an inductor) due to the parasitic characteristics of the component.

When such systems operate to wirelessly transfer power from atransmission system to a receiver system, via the coils and/or antennas,it is often desired to simultaneously or intermittently communicateelectronic data from one system to the other. To that end, a variety ofcommunications systems, methods, and/or apparatus have been utilized forcombined wireless power and wireless data transfer. In some examplesystems, wireless power transfer related communications (e.g.,validation procedures, electronic characteristics data communications,voltage data, current data, device type data, among other contemplateddata communications) are performed using other circuitry, such as anoptional Near Field Communications (NFC) antenna utilized to complimentthe wireless power system and/or additional Bluetooth chipsets for datacommunications, among other known communications circuits and/orantennas.

However, using additional antennas and/or circuitry can give rise toseveral disadvantages. For instance, using additional antennas and/orcircuitry can be inefficient and/or can increase the BOM of a wirelesspower system, which raises the cost for putting wireless power into anelectronic device. Further, in some such systems, out of bandcommunications caused by such additional antennas may result ininterference, such as out of band cross-talk between such antennas.Further yet, inclusion of such additional antennas and/or circuitry canresult in worsened EMI, as introduction of the additional system willcause greater harmonic distortion, in comparison to a system whereinboth a wireless power signal and a data signal are within the samechannel. Still further, inclusion of additional antennas and/orcircuitry hardware, for communications, may increase the area within adevice, for which the wireless power systems and/or components thereofreside, complicating a build of an end product.

To avoid these issues, as has been illustrated with modern NFC DirectCharge (NFC-DC) systems and/or NFC Wireless Charging systems incommercial devices, legacy hardware and/or hardware based on legacydevices may be leveraged to implement both wireless power transfer anddata transfer, either simultaneously or in an alternating manner.However, current communications antennas and/or circuits for highfrequency communications, when leveraged for wireless power transfer,have much lower power level capabilities than lower frequency wirelesspower transfer systems, such as the Wireless Power Consortium's Qistandard devices. Utilizing higher power levels in current highfrequency circuits may result in damage to the legacy equipment.

Additionally, when utilizing higher power transfer capabilities in suchhigh frequency systems, such as those found in legacy systems, wirelesscommunications may be degraded when wireless power transfer exceeds lowpower levels (e.g., 300 mW transferred and below). However, withoutclearly communicable and non-distorted data communications, wirelesspower transfer may not be feasible.

SUMMARY

To that end, new high frequency wireless power transmission systems,which utilize new circuits for allowing higher power transfer (greaterthan 300 mW), without degrading communications below a desired standarddata protocol, are desired.

Wireless transmission systems disclosed herein may include a dampingcircuit, which is configured for damping an AC wireless signal duringtransmission of the AC wireless signal and associated data signals. Thedamping circuit may be configured to reduce rise and fall times duringOOK signal transmission, such that the rate of the data signals may notonly be compliant and/or legible but may also achieve faster data ratesand/or enhanced data ranges, when compared to legacy systems.

Damping circuits of the present disclosure may include one or more of adamping diode, a damping capacitor, a damping resistor, or anycombinations thereof for further enhancing signal characteristics and/orsignal quality.

In some embodiments wherein the damping circuit includes the dampingresistor, the damping resistor is in electrical series with the dampingtransistor 63 and has a resistance value (ohms) configured such that itdissipates at least some power from the power signal. Such dissipationmay serve to accelerate rise and fall times in an amplitude shift keyingsignal, an OOK signal, and/or combinations thereof.

In some such embodiments, the value of the damping resistor is selected,configured, and/or designed such that the damping resistor dissipatesthe minimum amount of power to achieve the fastest rise and/or falltimes in an in-band signal allowable and/or satisfy standardslimitations for minimum rise and/or fall times; thereby achieving datafidelity at maximum efficiency (less power lost to resistance) as wellas maintaining data fidelity when the system is unloaded and/or underlightest load conditions.

In some embodiments wherein the damping circuit includes the dampingcapacitor, the damping capacitor may be configured to smooth outtransition points in an in-band signal and limit overshoot and/orundershoot conditions in such a signal.

In some embodiments wherein the damping circuit includes the dampingdiode, the diode is positioned such that a current cannot flow out ofthe damping circuit, when a damping transistor is in an off state. Thus,the diode may prevent power efficiency loss in an AC power signal whenthe damping circuit is not active.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a method for operatinga wireless power transmission system is disclosed. The method includesproviding, by a transmission controller of the wireless powertransmission system, a driving signal for driving a transmission antennaof the wireless power transmission system, the driving signal based, atleast, on an operating frequency for the wireless power transmissionsystem. The method further includes receiving, by at least onetransistor of an amplifier of the wireless power transmission system,the driving signal at a gate of the at least one transistor andinverting, by the at least one transistor, a direct current (DC) inputpower signal to generate an AC wireless signal at the operatingfrequency. The method further includes receiving, at a dampingtransistor of a damping circuit, damping signals for switching thedamping transistor to one of an active mode and an inactive mode tocontrol signal damping during transmission or receipt of wireless datasignals. The method further includes selectively damping, by the dampingcircuit, the AC wireless signals, during transmission of the wirelessdata signals if the damping signals set the damping circuit to theactive mode.

In a refinement, the wireless data signals are one of on-off-keyed (OOK)in-band data signals or amplitude-shift-keyed (ASK) in-band datasignals.

In a further refinement, determining the damping signals includesdetermining instructions to switch the damping circuit to the activemode, when transmission or receipt of the wireless data signals begins.

In yet a further refinement, the method further includes determining iftransmission or receipt of the wireless signals has begun.

In yet a further refinement, determining if transmission or receipt ofthe wireless signals has begun includes determining if the wireless datasignals have transitioned from a “high” state to a “low” state.”

In yet a further refinement, determining if the wireless data signalshave transitioned from a “high” state to a “low” state” is based, atleast in part, on quality factor information (Q_(Rx)) of a wirelessreceiver system to which the wireless transmission system is configuredto transmit the AC wireless signals.

In another further refinement, the method further includes receivingQ_(Rx), by the transmission controller, from a receiver sensing systemof the wireless transmission system.

In another further refinement, determining if the transmission orreceipt of the wireless data signals has begun includes monitoring thewireless data signals and, if a data start message is detected, then thewireless data signals have ended.

In a further refinement, the method further includes determining if thetransmission or receipt of the wireless data signals has begun includesmonitoring the wireless data signals and, if a data start message isdetected, then the wireless data signals have ended.

In yet a further refinement, determining if transmission or receipt ofthe wireless data signals has ended includes monitoring a length of timethat the wireless data signals have remained high, and, if the length oftime meets or exceeds a threshold indicating that the transmission orreceipt of the wireless signals has ended, then the transmission orreceipt of the wireless data signals has ended.

In yet another further refinement, determining if the transmission orreceipt of the wireless data signals has ended includes monitoring thewireless data signals and, if a data end message is detected, then thewireless data signals have ended.

In a refinement, the method further includes instructing a powerconditioning system of the wireless power transmission system to raisethe input voltage (V_(PA)) to the at least one transistor to an elevatedinput voltage (V_(PA+)) when the damping circuit in the active mode,V_(PA+) configured to compensate for power loss in the system due toactivation of the damping circuit.

In a further refinement, the method further includes instructing thepower conditioning system to reduce V_(PA+) to V_(PA), when the dampingsignal is deactivated.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a wireless powertransmission system is disclosed. The system includes a transmissionantenna, an amplifier, and a transmission controller. The transmissionantenna is configured to couple with at least one other antenna andtransmit alternating current (AC) wireless signals to the at least oneantenna, the AC wireless signals including wireless power signals andwireless data signals, wherein the wireless data signals are one ofon-off-keyed (OOK) in-band data signals or amplitude-shift-keyed (ASK)in-band data signals. The amplifier includes at least one transistor anda damping circuit. The at least one transistor is configured to (i)receive a driving signal at a gate of the at least one transistor, thedriving signal configured to drive the transmission antenna based on anoperating frequency for the wireless power transfer system and (ii)invert a direct current (DC) input power signal based on the drivingsignal, to generate the AC wireless signal at an operating frequency.The damping circuit is configured to dampen the AC wireless signalsduring transmission of the wireless data signals, wherein the dampingcircuit includes at least a damping transistor that is configured toreceive a damping signals for switching the damping transistor to one ofan active mode and an inactive mode to control signal damping duringtransmission or receipt of wireless data signals. The transmissioncontroller is configured to (i) provide the driving signals to the atleast one transistor, (ii) generate the damping signals by determiningwhen the wireless data signals are transmitted and generatinginstructions to operate the damping circuit in the active mode when thewireless data signals are transmitted, and (iii) perform one or more ofencoding the wireless data signals, decoding the wireless data signals,receiving the wireless data signals, or transmitting the wireless datasignals.

In a refinement, the system further includes a voltage regulatorconfigured to provide the direct current (DC) input power to the atleast one transistor at an input voltage (V_(PA)), wherein thetransmission controller is further configured to instruct the voltageregulator to increase V_(PA) to an elevated input voltage (V_(PA+)) whenthe damping circuit is in the active mode, V_(PA+) configured tocompensate for power loss in the system due to activation of the dampingcircuit.

In a further refinement, the transmission controller is furtherconfigured to instruct the voltage regulator to reduce V_(PA+) toV_(PA), when the damping signal indicates that the damping signal is tobe in the inactive mode.

In a refinement, the damping circuit further includes a damping resistorthat is in electrical series with the damping transistor and isconfigured for dissipating at least some power from the power signal.

In a refinement, the damping circuit further includes a dampingcapacitor that is in electrical series with, at least, the dampingtransistor.

In a refinement, the damping circuit further includes a diode that is inelectrical series with, at least, the damping transistor and isconfigured for preventing power efficiency loss in the wireless powersignal when the damping circuit is not active.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the disclosure, a non-tangible,machine-readable medium storing instructions is disclosed. Theinstructions, when executed, cause a controller to determine a drivingsignal for driving a transmitter antenna of a wireless powertransmission system, the driving signal based, at least, on an operatingfrequency for the wireless power transmission system, provide thedriving signal to at least one transistor of an amplifier of thewireless power transmission system at a gate of the at least onetransistor, determine damping signals for a damping transistor of adamping circuit, the damping signals configured to switch the dampingtransistor to one of an active mode and an inactive mode to controlsignal damping during transmission or receipt of wireless data signals,the wireless data signals encoded in-band of AC wireless power signals,the AC wireless power signals generated based on the driving signal, andprovide the damping signals to the damping circuit, the damping signalsinstructing the damping circuit to selectively damp the AC wirelesssignals based, at least in part, on wireless data signals that arein-band of the AC wireless signals.

These and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will bebetter understood when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for wirelesslytransferring one or more of electrical energy, electrical power signals,electrical power, electromagnetic energy, electronic data, andcombinations thereof, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a wirelesstransmission system of the system of FIG. 1 and a wireless receiversystem of the system of FIG. 1 , in accordance with FIG. 1 and thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of a transmissioncontrol system of the wireless transmission system of FIG. 2 , inaccordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components of a sensing system ofthe transmission control system of FIG. 3 , in accordance with FIGS. 1-3and the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components of a powerconditioning system of the wireless transmission system of FIG. 2 , inaccordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of elements of the wireless transmissionsystem of FIGS. 1-5 , further illustrating components of an amplifier ofthe power conditioning system of FIG. 5 and signal characteristics forwireless power transmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-5 and thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an electrical schematic diagram of elements of the wirelesstransmission system of FIGS. 1-6 , further illustrating components of anamplifier of the power conditioning system of FIGS. 5-6 , in accordancewith FIGS. 1-6 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 8A is an exemplary plot illustrating rise and fall of “on” and“off” conditions when a signal has in-band communications via on-offkeying.

FIG. 8B is an exemplary plot illustrating rise and fall of “high” and“low” conditions when a signal has in-band communications viaamplitude-shift keying.

FIG. 9A is a flow chart for a method for operating the wirelesstransmission system of FIGS. 1-7 , in accordance with FIGS. 1-7 and thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9B is a flow chart for another method for operating the wirelesstransmission system of FIGS. 1-7 , in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9A, andthe present disclosure.

FIG. 10A is a flow chart for a sub-method for determining dampingsignals for the method of FIG. 9A, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9A, andthe present disclosure.

FIG. 10B is a flow chart for a sub-method for determining dampingsignals for the method of FIG. 9B, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9A-B,10A, and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11A illustrates exemplary timing diagrams for ideal data signalsand damping signals output from the transmission controller of FIGS.1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using on-off keying, inaccordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11B illustrates exemplary timing diagrams for ideal data signalsand damping signals output from the transmission controller of FIGS.1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using amplitude shiftkeying, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11C illustrates another exemplary timing diagrams for ideal datasignals and damping signals output from the transmission controller ofFIGS. 1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using on-off keying,in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11D illustrates another exemplary timing diagrams for ideal datasignals and damping signals output from the transmission controller ofFIGS. 1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using amplitude shiftkeying, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11E illustrates another exemplary timing diagrams for ideal datasignals and damping signals output from the transmission controller ofFIGS. 1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using on-off keying,in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11F illustrates another exemplary timing diagrams for ideal datasignals and damping signals output from the transmission controller ofFIGS. 1-7, 9-10 , when the data signal is encoded using amplitude shiftkeying, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating components of a receiver controlsystem and a receiver power conditioning system of the wireless receiversystem of FIG. 2 , in accordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a top view of a non-limiting, exemplary antenna, for use asone or both of a transmission antenna and a receiver antenna of thesystem of FIGS. 1-7, 9-10 and/or any other systems, methods, orapparatus disclosed herein, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for a method for designing a system for wirelesstransmission of one or more of electrical energy, electrical powersignals, electrical power, electrical electromagnetic energy, electronicdata, and combinations thereof, in accordance with FIGS. 1-7, 9-13 , andthe present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for an exemplary method for designing a wirelesstransmission system for the system of FIG. 11 , in accordance with FIGS.1-7, 9-13, 14 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart for an exemplary method for designing a wirelessreceiver system for the system of FIG. 11 , in accordance with FIGS.1-7, 9-13, 14, 15 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart for an exemplary method for manufacturing asystem for wireless transmission of one or more of electrical energy,electrical power signals, electrical power, electrical electromagneticenergy, electronic data, and combinations thereof, in accordance withFIGS. 1-7, 9-13 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for an exemplary method for manufacturing awireless transmission system for the system of FIG. 17 , in accordancewith FIGS. 1-7, 9-13, 17 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for an exemplary method for designing a wirelessreceiver system for the system of FIG. 17 , in accordance with FIGS.1-7, 9-13, 17, 18 , and the present disclosure.

While the following detailed description will be given with respect tocertain illustrative embodiments, it should be understood that thedrawings are not necessarily to scale and the disclosed embodiments aresometimes illustrated diagrammatically and in partial views. Inaddition, in certain instances, details which are not necessary for anunderstanding of the disclosed subject matter or which render otherdetails too difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It shouldtherefore be understood that this disclosure is not limited to theparticular embodiments disclosed and illustrated herein, but rather to afair reading of the entire disclosure and claims, as well as anyequivalents thereto. Additional, different, or fewer components andmethods may be included in the systems and methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth byway of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of therelevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled inthe art that the present teachings may be practiced without suchdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, withoutdetail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentteachings.

Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to FIG. 1 , awireless power transfer system 10 is illustrated. The wireless powertransfer system 10 provides for the wireless transmission of electricalsignals, such as, but not limited to, electrical energy, electricalpower, electrical power signals, electromagnetic energy, andelectronically transmittable data (“electronic data”). As used herein,the term “electrical power signal” refers to an electrical signaltransmitted specifically to provide meaningful electrical energy forcharging and/or directly powering a load, whereas the term “electronicdata signal” refers to an electrical signal that is utilized to conveydata across a medium.

The wireless power transfer system 10 provides for the wirelesstransmission of electrical signals via near field magnetic coupling. Asshown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the wireless power transfer system10 includes a wireless transmission system 20 and a wireless receiversystem 30. The wireless receiver system is configured to receiveelectrical signals from, at least, the wireless transmission system 20.In some examples, such as examples wherein the wireless power transfersystem is configured for wireless power transfer via the Near FieldCommunications Direct Charge (NFC-DC) or Near Field CommunicationsWireless Charging (NFC WC) draft or accepted standard, the wirelesstransmission system 20 may be referenced as a “listener” of the NFC-DCwireless transfer system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30 may bereferenced as a “poller” of the NFC-DC wireless transfer system.

As illustrated, the wireless transmission system 20 and wirelessreceiver system 30 may be configured to transmit electrical signalsacross, at least, a separation distance or gap 17. A separation distanceor gap, such as the gap 17, in the context of a wireless power transfersystem, such as the system 10, does not include a physical connection,such as a wired connection. There may be intermediary objects located ina separation distance or gap, such as, but not limited to, air, acounter top, a casing for an electronic device, a plastic filament, aninsulator, a mechanical wall, among other things; however, there is nophysical, electrical connection at such a separation distance or gap.

Thus, the combination of the wireless transmission system 20 and thewireless receiver system 30 create an electrical connection without theneed for a physical connection. As used herein, the term “electricalconnection” refers to any facilitation of a transfer of an electricalcurrent, voltage, and/or power from a first location, device, component,and/or source to a second location, device, component, and/ordestination. An “electrical connection” may be a physical connection,such as, but not limited to, a wire, a trace, a via, among otherphysical electrical connections, connecting a first location, device,component, and/or source to a second location, device, component, and/ordestination. Additionally or alternatively, an “electrical connection”may be a wireless power and/or data transfer, such as, but not limitedto, magnetic, electromagnetic, resonant, and/or inductive field, amongother wireless power and/or data transfers, connecting a first location,device, component, and/or source to a second location, device,component, and/or destination.

In some cases, the gap 17 may also be referenced as a “Z-Distance,”because, if one considers an antenna 21, 31 each to be disposedsubstantially along respective common X-Y planes, then the distanceseparating the antennas 21, 31 is the gap in a “Z” or “depth” direction.However, flexible and/or non-planar coils are certainly contemplated byembodiments of the present disclosure and, thus, it is contemplated thatthe gap 17 may not be uniform, across an envelope of connectiondistances between the antennas 21, 31. It is contemplated that varioustunings, configurations, and/or other parameters may alter the possiblemaximum distance of the gap 17, such that electrical transmission fromthe wireless transmission system 20 to the wireless receiver system 30remains possible.

The wireless power transfer system 10 operates when the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30 are coupled.As used herein, the terms “couples,” “coupled,” and “coupling” generallyrefer to magnetic field coupling, which occurs when a transmitter and/orany components thereof and a receiver and/or any components thereof arecoupled to each other through a magnetic field. Such coupling mayinclude coupling, represented by a coupling coefficient (k), that is atleast sufficient for an induced electrical power signal, from atransmitter, to be harnessed by a receiver. Coupling of the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30, in thesystem 10, may be represented by a resonant coupling coefficient of thesystem 10 and, for the purposes of wireless power transfer, the couplingcoefficient for the system 10 may be in the range of about 0.01 and 0.9.

As illustrated, the wireless transmission system 20 may be associatedwith a host device 11, which may receive power from an input powersource 12. The host device 11 may be any electrically operated device,circuit board, electronic assembly, dedicated charging device, or anyother contemplated electronic device. Example host devices 11, withwhich the wireless transmission system 20 may be associated therewith,include, but are not limited to including, a device that includes anintegrated circuit, cases for wearable electronic devices, receptaclesfor electronic devices, a portable computing device, clothing configuredwith electronics, storage medium for electronic devices, chargingapparatus for one or multiple electronic devices, dedicated electricalcharging devices, activity or sport related equipment, goods, and/ordata collection devices, among other contemplated electronic devices.

As illustrated, one or both of the wireless transmission system 20 andthe host device 11 are operatively associated with an input power source12. The input power source 12 may be or may include one or moreelectrical storage devices, such as an electrochemical cell, a batterypack, and/or a capacitor, among other storage devices. Additionally oralternatively, the input power source 12 may be any electrical inputsource (e.g., any alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC)delivery port) and may include connection apparatus from said electricalinput source to the wireless transmission system 20 (e.g., transformers,regulators, conductive conduits, traces, wires, or equipment, goods,computer, camera, mobile phone, and/or other electrical deviceconnection ports and/or adaptors, such as but not limited to USB portsand/or adaptors, among other contemplated electrical components).

Electrical energy received by the wireless transmission system 20 isthen used for at least two purposes: to provide electrical power tointernal components of the wireless transmission system 20 and toprovide electrical power to the transmitter antenna 21. The transmitterantenna 21 is configured to wirelessly transmit the electrical signalsconditioned and modified for wireless transmission by the wirelesstransmission system 20 via near-field magnetic coupling (NFMC).Near-field magnetic coupling enables the transfer of signals wirelesslythrough magnetic induction between the transmitter antenna 21 and areceiving antenna 31 of, or associated with, the wireless receiversystem 30. Near-field magnetic coupling may be and/or be referred to as“inductive coupling,” which, as used herein, is a wireless powertransmission technique that utilizes an alternating electromagneticfield to transfer electrical energy between two antennas. Such inductivecoupling is the near field wireless transmission of magnetic energybetween two magnetically coupled coils that are tuned to resonate at asimilar frequency. Accordingly, such near-field magnetic coupling mayenable efficient wireless power transmission via resonant transmissionof confined magnetic fields. Further, such near-field magnetic couplingmay provide connection via “mutual inductance,” which, as defined hereinis the production of an electromotive force in a circuit by a change incurrent in a second circuit magnetically coupled to the first.

In one or more embodiments, the inductor coils of either the transmitterantenna 21 or the receiver antenna 31 are strategically positioned tofacilitate reception and/or transmission of wirelessly transferredelectrical signals through near field magnetic induction. Antennaoperating frequencies may comprise relatively high operating frequencyranges, examples of which may include, but are not limited to, 6.78 MHz(e.g., in accordance with the Rezence and/or Airfuel interface standardand/or any other proprietary interface standard operating at a frequencyof 6.78 MHz), 13.56 MHz (e.g., in accordance with the NFC standard,defined by ISO/IEC standard 18092), 27 MHz, and/or an operatingfrequency of another proprietary operating mode. The operatingfrequencies of the antennas 21, 31 may be operating frequenciesdesignated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in theIndustrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency bands, including notlimited to 6.78 MHz, 13.56 MHz, and 27 MHz, which are designated for usein wireless power transfer. In systems wherein the wireless powertransfer system 10 is operating within the NFC-DC standards and/or draftstandards, the operating frequency may be in a range of about 13.553 MHzto about 13.567 MHz.

The transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna of the presentdisclosure may be configured to transmit and/or receive electrical powerhaving a magnitude that ranges from about 10 milliwatts (mW) to about500 watts (W). In one or more embodiments the inductor coil of thetransmitting antenna 21 is configured to resonate at a transmittingantenna resonant frequency or within a transmitting antenna resonantfrequency band.

As known to those skilled in the art, a “resonant frequency” or“resonant frequency band” refers a frequency or frequencies whereinamplitude response of the antenna is at a relative maximum, or,additionally or alternatively, the frequency or frequency band where thecapacitive reactance has a magnitude substantially similar to themagnitude of the inductive reactance. In one or more embodiments, thetransmitting antenna resonant frequency is at a high frequency, as knownto those in the art of wireless power transfer.

The wireless receiver system 30 may be associated with at least oneelectronic device 14, wherein the electronic device 14 may be any devicethat requires electrical power for any function and/or for power storage(e.g., via a battery and/or capacitor). Additionally, the electronicdevice 14 may be any device capable of receipt of electronicallytransmissible data. For example, the device may be, but is not limitedto being, a handheld computing device, a mobile device, a portableappliance, an integrated circuit, an identifiable tag, a kitchen utilitydevice, an electronic tool, an electric vehicle, a game console, arobotic device, a wearable electronic device (e.g., an electronic watch,electronically modified glasses, altered-reality (AR) glasses, virtualreality (VR) glasses, among other things), a portable scanning device, aportable identifying device, a sporting good, an embedded sensor, anInternet of Things (IoT) sensor, IoT enabled clothing, IoT enabledrecreational equipment, industrial equipment, medical equipment, amedical device a tablet computing device, a portable control device, aremote controller for an electronic device, a gaming controller, amongother things.

For the purposes of illustrating the features and characteristics of thedisclosed embodiments, arrow-ended lines are utilized to illustratetransferrable and/or communicative signals and various patterns are usedto illustrate electrical signals that are intended for powertransmission and electrical signals that are intended for thetransmission of data and/or control instructions. Solid lines indicatesignal transmission of electrical energy over a physical and/or wirelesspower transfer, in the form of power signals that are, ultimately,utilized in wireless power transmission from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30. Further, dotted lines areutilized to illustrate electronically transmittable data signals, whichultimately may be wirelessly transmitted from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30.

While the systems and methods herein illustrate the transmission ofwirelessly transmitted energy, wireless power signals, wirelesslytransmitted power, wirelessly transmitted electromagnetic energy, and/orelectronically transmittable data, it is certainly contemplated that thesystems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein may be utilized in thetransmission of only one signal, various combinations of two signals, ormore than two signals and, further, it is contemplated that the systems,method, and apparatus disclosed herein may be utilized for wirelesstransmission of other electrical signals in addition to or uniquely incombination with one or more of the above mentioned signals. In someexamples, the signal paths of solid or dotted lines may represent afunctional signal path, whereas, in practical application, the actualsignal is routed through additional components en route to its indicateddestination. For example, it may be indicated that a data signal routesfrom a communications apparatus to another communications apparatus;however, in practical application, the data signal may be routed throughan amplifier, then through a transmission antenna, to a receiverantenna, where, on the receiver end, the data signal is decoded by arespective communications device of the receiver.

Turning now to FIG. 2 , the wireless connection system 10 is illustratedas a block diagram including example sub-systems of both the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30. The wirelesstransmission system 20 may include, at least, a power conditioningsystem 40, a transmission control system 26, a transmission tuningsystem 24, and the transmission antenna 21. A first portion of theelectrical energy input from the input power source 12 is configured toelectrically power components of the wireless transmission system 20such as, but not limited to, the transmission control system 26. Asecond portion of the electrical energy input from the input powersource 12 is conditioned and/or modified for wireless powertransmission, to the wireless receiver system 30, via the transmissionantenna 21. Accordingly, the second portion of the input energy ismodified and/or conditioned by the power conditioning system 40. Whilenot illustrated, it is certainly contemplated that one or both of thefirst and second portions of the input electrical energy may bemodified, conditioned, altered, and/or otherwise changed prior toreceipt by the power conditioning system 40 and/or transmission controlsystem 26, by further contemplated subsystems (e.g., a voltageregulator, a current regulator, switching systems, fault systems, safetyregulators, among other things).

Referring now to FIG. 3 , with continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 ,subcomponents and/or systems of the transmission control system 26 areillustrated. The transmission control system 26 may include a sensingsystem 50, a transmission controller 28, a communications system 29, adriver 48, and a memory 27.

The transmission controller 28 may be any electronic controller orcomputing system that includes, at least, a processor which performsoperations, executes control algorithms, stores data, retrieves data,gathers data, controls and/or provides communication with othercomponents and/or subsystems associated with the wireless transmissionsystem 20, and/or performs any other computing or controlling taskdesired. The transmission controller 28 may be a single controller ormay include more than one controller disposed to control variousfunctions and/or features of the wireless transmission system 20.Functionality of the transmission controller 28 may be implemented inhardware and/or software and may rely on one or more data maps relatingto the operation of the wireless transmission system 20. To that end,the transmission controller 28 may be operatively associated with thememory 27. The memory may include one or more of internal memory,external memory, and/or remote memory (e.g., a database and/or serveroperatively connected to the transmission controller 28 via a network,such as, but not limited to, the Internet). The internal memory and/orexternal memory may include, but are not limited to including, one ormore of a read only memory (ROM), including programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM orsometimes but rarely labelled EROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), random access memory (RAM), including dynamicRAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), singledata rate synchronous dynamic RAM (SDR SDRAM), double data ratesynchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4), and graphicsdouble data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (GDDR SDRAM, GDDR2, GDDR3,GDDR4, GDDR5, a flash memory, a portable memory, and the like. Suchmemory media are examples of nontransitory machine readable and/orcomputer readable memory media.

While particular elements of the transmission control system 26 areillustrated as independent components and/or circuits (e.g., the driver48, the memory 27, the communications system 29, the sensing system 50,among other contemplated elements) of the transmission control system26, such components may be integrated with the transmission controller28. In some examples, the transmission controller 28 may be anintegrated circuit configured to include functional elements of one orboth of the transmission controller 28 and the wireless transmissionsystem 20, generally.

As illustrated, the transmission controller 28 is in operativeassociation, for the purposes of data transmission, receipt, and/orcommunication, with, at least, the memory 27, the communications system29, the power conditioning system 40, the driver 48, and the sensingsystem 50. The driver 48 may be implemented to control, at least inpart, the operation of the power conditioning system 40. In someexamples, the driver 48 may receive instructions from the transmissioncontroller 28 to generate and/or output a generated pulse widthmodulation (PWM) signal to the power conditioning system 40. In somesuch examples, the PWM signal may be configured to drive the powerconditioning system 40 to output electrical power as an alternatingcurrent signal, having an operating frequency defined by the PWM signal.In some examples, PWM signal may be configured to generate a duty cyclefor the AC power signal output by the power conditioning system 40. Insome such examples, the duty cycle may be configured to be about 50% ofa given period of the AC power signal.

The sensing system may include one or more sensors, wherein each sensormay be operatively associated with one or more components of thewireless transmission system 20 and configured to provide informationand/or data. The term “sensor” is used in its broadest interpretation todefine one or more components operatively associated with the wirelesstransmission system 20 that operate to sense functions, conditions,electrical characteristics, operations, and/or operating characteristicsof one or more of the wireless transmission system 20, the wirelessreceiving system 30, the input power source 12, the host device 11, thetransmission antenna 21, the receiver antenna 31, along with any othercomponents and/or subcomponents thereof.

As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the sensing system 50 mayinclude, but is not limited to including, a thermal sensing system 52,an object sensing system 54, a receiver sensing system 56, and/or anyother sensor(s) 58. Within these systems, there may exist even morespecific optional additional or alternative sensing systems addressingparticular sensing aspects required by an application, such as, but notlimited to: a condition-based maintenance sensing system, a performanceoptimization sensing system, a state-of-charge sensing system, atemperature management sensing system, a component heating sensingsystem, an IoT sensing system, an energy and/or power management sensingsystem, an impact detection sensing system, an electrical status sensingsystem, a speed detection sensing system, a device health sensingsystem, among others. The object sensing system 54, may be a foreignobject detection (FOD) system.

Each of the thermal sensing system 52, the object sensing system 54, thereceiver sensing system 56 and/or the other sensor(s) 58, including theoptional additional or alternative systems, are operatively and/orcommunicatively connected to the transmission controller 28. The thermalsensing system 52 is configured to monitor ambient and/or componenttemperatures within the wireless transmission system 20 or otherelements nearby the wireless transmission system 20. The thermal sensingsystem 52 may be configured to detect a temperature within the wirelesstransmission system 20 and, if the detected temperature exceeds athreshold temperature, the transmission controller 28 prevents thewireless transmission system 20 from operating. Such a thresholdtemperature may be configured for safety considerations, operationalconsiderations, efficiency considerations, and/or any combinationsthereof. In a non-limiting example, if, via input from the thermalsensing system 52, the transmission controller 28 determines that thetemperature within the wireless transmission system 20 has increasedfrom an acceptable operating temperature to an undesired operatingtemperature (e.g., in a non-limiting example, the internal temperatureincreasing from about 20° Celsius (C) to about 50° C., the transmissioncontroller 28 prevents the operation of the wireless transmission system20 and/or reduces levels of power output from the wireless transmissionsystem 20. In some non-limiting examples, the thermal sensing system 52may include one or more of a thermocouple, a thermistor, a negativetemperature coefficient (NTC) resistor, a resistance temperaturedetector (RTD), and/or any combinations thereof.

As depicted in FIG. 4 , the transmission sensing system 50 may includethe object sensing system 54. The object sensing system 54 may beconfigured to detect one or more of the wireless receiver system 30and/or the receiver antenna 31, thus indicating to the transmissioncontroller 28 that the receiver system 30 is proximate to the wirelesstransmission system 20. Additionally or alternatively, the objectsensing system 54 may be configured to detect presence of unwantedobjects in contact with or proximate to the wireless transmission system20. In some examples, the object sensing system 54 is configured todetect the presence of an undesired object. In some such examples, ifthe transmission controller 28, via information provided by the objectsensing system 54, detects the presence of an undesired object, then thetransmission controller 28 prevents or otherwise modifies operation ofthe wireless transmission system 20. In some examples, the objectsensing system 54 utilizes an impedance change detection scheme, inwhich the transmission controller 28 analyzes a change in electricalimpedance observed by the transmission antenna 20 against a known,acceptable electrical impedance value or range of electrical impedancevalues.

Additionally or alternatively, the object sensing system 54 may utilizea quality factor (Q) change detection scheme, in which the transmissioncontroller 28 analyzes a change from a known quality factor value orrange of quality factor values of the object being detected, such as thereceiver antenna 31. The “quality factor” or “Q” of an inductor can bedefined as (frequency (Hz)×inductance (H))/resistance (ohms), wherefrequency is the operational frequency of the circuit, inductance is theinductance output of the inductor and resistance is the combination ofthe radiative and reactive resistances that are internal to theinductor. “Quality factor,” as defined herein, is generally accepted asan index (figure of measure) that measures the efficiency of anapparatus like an antenna, a circuit, or a resonator. In some examples,the object sensing system 54 may include one or more of an opticalsensor, an electro-optical sensor, a Hall effect sensor, a proximitysensor, and/or any combinations thereof.

The receiver sensing system 56 is any sensor, circuit, and/orcombinations thereof configured to detect presence of any wirelessreceiving system that may be couplable with the wireless transmissionsystem 20. In some examples, the receiver sensing system 56 and theobject sensing system 54 may be combined, may share components, and/ormay be embodied by one or more common components. In some examples, ifthe presence of any such wireless receiving system is detected, wirelesstransmission of electrical energy, electrical power, electromagneticenergy, and/or data by the wireless transmission system 20 to saidwireless receiving system is enabled. In some examples, if the presenceof a wireless receiver system is not detected, continued wirelesstransmission of electrical energy, electrical power, electromagneticenergy, and/or data is prevented from occurring. Accordingly, thereceiver sensing system 56 may include one or more sensors and/or may beoperatively associated with one or more sensors that are configured toanalyze electrical characteristics within an environment of or proximateto the wireless transmission system 20 and, based on the electricalcharacteristics, determine presence of a wireless receiver system 30.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , and with continued reference to FIGS. 1-4 , ablock diagram illustrating an embodiment of the power conditioningsystem 40 is illustrated. At the power conditioning system 40,electrical power is received, generally, as a DC power source, via theinput power source 12 itself or an intervening power converter,converting an AC source to a DC source (not shown). A voltage regulator46 receives the electrical power from the input power source 12 and isconfigured to provide electrical power for transmission by the antenna21 and provide electrical power for powering components of the wirelesstransmission system 21. Accordingly, the voltage regulator 46 isconfigured to convert the received electrical power into at least twoelectrical power signals, each at a proper voltage for operation of therespective downstream components: a first electrical power signal toelectrically power any components of the wireless transmission system 20and a second portion conditioned and modified for wireless transmissionto the wireless receiver system 30. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , such afirst portion is transmitted to, at least, the sensing system 50, thetransmission controller 28, and the communications system 29; however,the first portion is not limited to transmission to just thesecomponents and can be transmitted to any electrical components of thewireless transmission system 20.

The second portion of the electrical power is provided to an amplifier42 of the power conditioning system 40, which is configured to conditionthe electrical power for wireless transmission by the antenna 21. Theamplifier may function as an invertor, which receives an input DC powersignal from the voltage regulator 46 and generates an AC as output,based, at least in part, on PWM input from the transmission controlsystem 26. The amplifier 42 may be or include, for example, a powerstage invertor, such as a dual field effect transistor power stageinvertor or a quadruple field effect transistor power stage invertor.The use of the amplifier 42 within the power conditioning system 40 and,in turn, the wireless transmission system 20 enables wirelesstransmission of electrical signals having much greater amplitudes thanif transmitted without such an amplifier. For example, the addition ofthe amplifier 42 may enable the wireless transmission system 20 totransmit electrical energy as an electrical power signal havingelectrical power from about 10 mW to about 500 W. In some examples, theamplifier 42 may be or may include one or more class-E power amplifiers.Class-E power amplifiers are efficiently tuned switching poweramplifiers designed for use at high frequencies (e.g., frequencies fromabout 1 MHz to about 1 GHz). Generally, a class-E amplifier employs asingle-pole switching element and a tuned reactive network between theswitch and an output load (e.g., the antenna 21). Class E amplifiers mayachieve high efficiency at high frequencies by only operating theswitching element at points of zero current (e.g., on-to-off switching)or zero voltage (off to on switching). Such switching characteristicsmay minimize power lost in the switch, even when the switching time ofthe device is long compared to the frequency of operation. However, theamplifier 42 is certainly not limited to being a class-E power amplifierand may be or may include one or more of a class D amplifier, a class EFamplifier, an H invertor amplifier, and/or a push-pull invertor, amongother amplifiers that could be included as part of the amplifier 42.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7 , the wireless transmission system 20 isillustrated, further detailing elements of the power conditioning system40, the amplifier 42, the tuning system 24, among other things. Theblock diagram of the wireless transmission system 20 illustrates one ormore electrical signals and the conditioning of such signals, alteringof such signals, transforming of such signals, inverting of suchsignals, amplification of such signals, and combinations thereof. InFIG. 6 , DC power signals are illustrated with heavily bolded lines,such that the lines are significantly thicker than other solid lines inFIG. 6 and other figures of the instant application, AC signals areillustrated as substantially sinusoidal wave forms with a thicknesssignificantly less bolded than that of the DC power signal bolding, anddata signals are represented as dotted lines. It is to be noted that theAC signals are not necessarily substantially sinusoidal waves and may beany AC waveform suitable for the purposes described below (e.g., a halfsine wave, a square wave, a half square wave, among other waveforms).FIG. 7 illustrates sample electrical components for elements of thewireless transmission system, and subcomponents thereof, in a simplifiedform. Note that FIG. 7 may represent one branch or sub-section of aschematic for the wireless transmission system 20 and/or components ofthe wireless transmission system 20 may be omitted from the schematicillustrated in FIG. 7 for clarity.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and discussed above, the input power source 11provides an input direct current voltage (V_(DC)), which may have itsvoltage level altered by the voltage regulator 46, prior to conditioningat the amplifier 42. In some examples, as illustrated in FIG. 7 , theamplifier 42 may include a choke inductor L_(CHOKE), which may beutilized to block radio frequency interference in V_(DC), while allowingthe DC power signal of V_(DC) to continue towards an amplifiertransistor 48 of the amplifier 42. V_(CHOKE) may be configured as anysuitable choke inductor known in the art.

The amplifier 48 is configured to alter and/or invert V_(DC) to generatean AC wireless signal V_(AC), which, as discussed in more detail below,may be configured to carry one or both of an inbound and outbound datasignal (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ). The amplifier transistor 48 maybe any switching transistor known in the art that is capable ofinverting, converting, and/or conditioning a DC power signal into an ACpower signal, such as, but not limited to, a field-effect transistor(FET), gallium nitride (GaN) FETS, bipolar junction transistor (BJT),and/or wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor, among other knownswitching transistors. The amplifier transistor 48 is configured toreceive a driving signal (denoted as “PWM” in FIG. 6 ) from at a gate ofthe amplifier transistor 48 (denoted as “G” in FIG. 6 ) and invert theDC signal V_(DC) to generate the AC wireless signal at an operatingfrequency and/or an operating frequency band for the wireless powertransmission system 20. The driving signal may be a PWM signalconfigured for such inversion at the operating frequency and/oroperating frequency band for the wireless power transmission system 20.

The driving signal is generated and output by the transmission controlsystem 26 and/or the transmission controller 28 therein, as discussedand disclosed above. The transmission controller 26, 28 is configured toprovide the driving signal and configured to perform one or more ofencoding wireless data signals (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ), decodingthe wireless data signals (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ) and anycombinations thereof. In some examples, the electrical data signals maybe in band signals of the AC wireless power signal. In some suchexamples, such in-band signals may be on-off-keying (OOK) signalsin-band of the AC wireless power signals. For example, Type-Acommunications, as described in the NFC Standards, are a form of OOK,wherein the data signal is on-off-keyed in a carrier AC wireless powersignal operating at an operating frequency in a range of about 13.553MHz to about 13.567 MHz.

However, when the power, current, impedance, phase, and/or voltagelevels of an AC power signal are changed beyond the levels used incurrent and/or legacy hardware for high frequency wireless powertransfer (over about 500 mW transmitted), such legacy hardware may notbe able to properly encode and/or decode in-band data signals with therequired fidelity for communications functions. Such higher power in anAC output power signal may cause signal degradation due to increasingrise times for an OOK rise, increasing fall time for an OOK fall,overshooting the required voltage in an OOK rise, and/or undershootingthe voltage in an OOK fall, among other potential degradations to thesignal due to legacy hardware being ill equipped for higher power, highfrequency wireless power transfer. Thus, there is a need for theamplifier 42 to be designed in a way that limits and/or substantiallyremoves rise and fall times, overshoots, undershoots, and/or othersignal deficiencies from an in-band data signal during wireless powertransfer. This ability to limit and/or substantially remove suchdeficiencies allows for the systems of the instant application toprovide higher power wireless power transfer in high frequency wirelesspower transmission systems.

For further exemplary illustration, FIG. 8 illustrates a plot for a falland rise of an OOK in-band signal. The fall time (t₁) is shown as thetime between when the signal is at 90% voltage (V₄) of the intended fullvoltage (V₁) and falls to about 5% voltage (V₂) of V₁. The rise time(t₃) is shown as the time between when the signal ends being at V₂ andrises to about V₄. Such rise and fall times may be read by a receivingantenna of the signal, and an applicable data communications protocolmay include limits on rise and fall times, such that data isnon-compliant and/or illegible by a receiver if rise and/or fall timesexceed certain bounds.

Returning now to FIGS. 6 and 7 , to achieve limitation and/orsubstantial removal of the mentioned deficiencies, the amplifier 42includes a damping circuit 60. The damping circuit 60 is configured fordamping the AC wireless signal during transmission of the AC wirelesssignal and associated data signals. The damping circuit 60 may beconfigured to reduce rise and fall times during OOK signal transmission,such that the rate of the data signals may not only be compliant and/orlegible, but may also achieve faster data rates and/or enhanced dataranges, when compared to legacy systems. For damping the AC wirelesspower signal, the damping circuit includes, at least, a dampingtransistor 63, which is configured for receiving a damping signal(V_(damp)) from the transmission controller 62. The damping signal isconfigured for switching the damping transistor (on/off) to controldamping of the AC wireless signal during the transmission and/or receiptof wireless data signals. Such transmission of the AC wireless signalsmay be performed by the transmission controller 28 and/or suchtransmission may be via transmission from the wireless receiver system30, within the coupled magnetic field between the antennas 21, 31.

In examples wherein the data signals are conveyed via OOK, the dampingsignal may be substantially opposite and/or an inverse to the state ofthe data signals. This means that if the OOK data signals are in an “on”state, the damping signals instruct the damping transistor to turn “off”and thus the signal is not dissipated via the damping circuit 60 becausethe damping circuit is not set to ground and, thus, a short from theamplifier circuit and the current substantially bypasses the dampingcircuit 60. If the OOK data signals are in an “off” state, then thedamping signals may be “on” and, thus, the damping transistor 63 is setto an “on” state and the current flowing of V_(AC) is damped by thedamping circuit. Thus, when “on,” the damping circuit 60 may beconfigured to dissipate just enough power, current, and/or voltage, suchthat efficiency in the system is not substantially affected and suchdissipation decreases rise and/or fall times in the OOK signal. Further,because the damping signal may instruct the damping transistor 63 toturn “off” when the OOK signal is “on,” then it will not unnecessarilydamp the signal, thus mitigating any efficiency losses from V_(AC), whendamping is not needed.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the branch of the amplifier 42 which mayinclude the damping circuit 60, is positioned at the output drain of theamplifier transistor 48. While it is not necessary that the dampingcircuit 60 be positioned here, in some examples, this may aid inproperly damping the output AC wireless signal, as it will be able todamp at the node closest to the amplifier transistor 48 output drain,which is the first node in the circuit wherein energy dissipation isdesired. In such examples, the damping circuit is in electrical parallelconnection with a drain of the amplifier transistor 48. However, it iscertainly possible that the damping circuit be connected proximate tothe antenna 21, proximate to the transmission tuning system 24, and/orproximate to a filter circuit 24.

While the damping circuit 60 is capable of functioning to properly dampthe AC wireless signal for proper communications at higher power highfrequency wireless power transmission, in some examples, the dampingcircuit may include additional components. For instance, as illustrated,the damping circuit 60 may include one or more of a damping diodeD_(DAMP), a damping resistor R_(DAMP), a damping capacitor C_(DAMP),and/or any combinations thereof. R_(DAMP) may be in electrical serieswith the damping transistor 63 and the value of R_(DAMP) (ohms) may beconfigured such that it dissipates at least some power from the powersignal, which may serve to accelerate rise and fall times in anamplitude shift keying signal, an OOK signal, and/or combinationsthereof. In some examples, the value of R_(DAMP) is selected,configured, and/or designed such that R_(DAMP) dissipates the minimumamount of power to achieve the fastest rise and/or fall times in anin-band signal allowable and/or satisfy standards limitations forminimum rise and/or fall times; thereby achieving data fidelity atmaximum efficiency (less power lost to R_(DAMP)) as well as maintainingdata fidelity when the system is unloaded and/or under lightest loadconditions.

C_(DAMP) may also be in series connection with one or both of thedamping transistor 63 and R_(DAMP). C_(DAMP) may be configured to smoothout transition points in an in-band signal and limit overshoot and/orundershoot conditions in such a signal. Further, in some examples,C_(DAMP) may be configured for ensuring the damping performed is 180degrees out of phase with the AC wireless power signal, when thetransistor is activated via the damping signal.

D_(DAMP) may further be included in series with one or more of thedamping transistor 63, R_(DAMP), C_(DAMP), and/or any combinationsthereof. D_(DAMP) is positioned, as shown, such that a current cannotflow out of the damping circuit 60, when the damping transistor 63 is inan off state. The inclusion of D_(DAMP) may prevent power efficiencyloss in the AC power signal when the damping circuit is not active or“on.” Indeed, while the damping transistor 63 is designed such that, inan ideal scenario, it serves to effectively short the damping circuitwhen in an “off” state, in practical terms, some current may still reachthe damping circuit and/or some current may possibly flow in theopposite direction out of the damping circuit 60. Thus, inclusion ofD_(DAMP) may prevent such scenarios and only allow current, power,and/or voltage to be dissipated towards the damping transistor 63. Thisconfiguration, including D_(DAMP), may be desirable when the dampingcircuit 60 is connected at the drain node of the amplifier transistor48, as the signal may be a half-wave sine wave voltage and, thus, thevoltage of V_(AC) is always positive.

Beyond the damping circuit 60, the amplifier 42, in some examples, mayinclude a shunt capacitor C_(SHUNT). C_(SHUNT) may be configured toshunt the AC power signal to ground and charge voltage of the AC powersignal. Thus, C_(SHUNT) may be configured to maintain an efficient andstable waveform for the AC power signal, such that a duty cycle of about50% is maintained and/or such that the shape of the AC power signal issubstantially sinusoidal at positive voltages.

In some examples, the amplifier 42 may include a filter circuit 65. Thefilter circuit 65 may be designed to mitigate and/or filter outelectromagnetic interference (EMI) within the wireless transmissionsystem 20. Design of the filter circuit 65 may be performed in view ofimpedance transfer and/or effects on the impedance transfer of thewireless power transmission 20 due to alterations in tuning made by thetransmission tuning system 24. To that end, the filter circuit 65 may beor include one or more of a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/ora band pass filter, among other filter circuits that are configured for,at least, mitigating EMI in a wireless power transmission system.

As illustrated, the filter circuit 65 may include a filter inductorL_(o) and a filter capacitor C_(o). The filter circuit 65 may have acomplex impedance and, thus, a resistance through the filter circuit 65may be defined as R_(o). In some such examples, the filter circuit 65may be designed and/or configured for optimization based on, at least, afilter quality factor γ_(FILTER), defined as:

$\gamma_{FILTER} = {\frac{1}{R_{o}}{\sqrt{\frac{L_{o}}{C_{o}}}.}}$

In a filter circuit 65 wherein it includes or is embodied by a low passfilter, the cut-off frequency (ω_(o)) of the low pass filter is definedas:

$\omega_{o} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{L_{o}C_{o}}}.}$In some wireless power transmission systems 20, it is desired that thecutoff frequency be about 1.03-1.4 times greater than the operatingfrequency of the antenna. Experimental results have determined that, ingeneral, a larger γ_(FILTER) may be preferred, because the largerγ_(FILTER) can improve voltage gain and improve system voltage rippleand timing. Thus, the above values for L_(o) and C_(o) may be set suchthat γ_(FILTER) can be optimized to its highest, ideal level (e.g., whenthe system 10 impedance is conjugately matched for maximum powertransfer), given cutoff frequency restraints and available componentsfor the values of L_(o) and C_(o).

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the conditioned signal(s) from the amplifier42 is then received by the transmission tuning system 24, prior totransmission by the antenna 21. The transmission tuning system 24 mayinclude tuning and/or impedance matching, filters (e.g. a low passfilter, a high pass filter, a “pi” or “Π” filter, a “T” filter, an “L”filter, a “LL” filter, and/or an L-C trap filter, among other filters),network matching, sensing, and/or conditioning elements configured tooptimize wireless transfer of signals from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30. Further, the transmissiontuning system 24 may include an impedance matching circuit, which isdesigned to match impedance with a corresponding wireless receiversystem 30 for given power, current, and/or voltage requirements forwireless transmission of one or more of electrical energy, electricalpower, electromagnetic energy, and electronic data. The illustratedtransmission tuning system 24 includes, at least, C_(Z1), C_(Z2). and(operatively associated with the antenna 21) values, all of which may beconfigured for impedance matching in one or both of the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the broader system 10. It is noted thatC_(Tx) refers to the intrinsic capacitance of the antenna 21.

FIG. 9A is an exemplary method 100A for operating the wireless powertransmitter 28, which utilizes, for example, the transmissioncontroller, the voltage regulator 46, the amplifier transistor 48, thedamping circuit 60, the transmission tuning system 24, and thetransmission antenna 21. The method 100A may be performed using one ormore of hardware of the transmission system 20, software executed by thetransmission controller 28, or any combinations thereof.

The method begins at block 102, wherein the transmission controller 28detects or determines wireless data signals. In examples wherein thetransmission system 20 intends to transmit data to the wireless receiversystem 30, the transmission controller 28 detects intent to transmitwireless data signals or knows it will transmit data signals, when thewireless data signals may be encoded into the driving signal by thetransmission controller 28. Alternatively, if the wireless receiversystem 30 is the transmitter of wireless data signals, the transmissioncontroller determines that wireless data is transmitted by monitoringthe voltage and/or current generated by the magnetic field between theantennas 21, 31 and detecting the signals that the wireless receiversystem 30 has encoded into the field. For example, such signals may beencoded via the magnetic field when the wireless receiver system 30selectively reduces one or both of a current or voltage generated by themagnetic field, during transmission by the transmission system 20. Insome such examples, determining existence of the damping signals may bebased, at least in part, using receiver quality factor information(Q_(Rx)) associated with the wireless receiver system 30. In somefurther examples, Q_(Rx) may be received from or provided by, forexample, the receiver sensing system 56.

At block 104, the method includes determining the driving signals forthe AC wireless signals 104, as discussed above with respect to thetransmission control system 24, and then providing the driving signalsfor the AC wireless signals to the amplifier transistor 48, asillustrated in block 106. Before, after, or, ideally, substantiallysimultaneously to performance of blocks 104, 106, respectively, themethod 100A further includes determining the damping signals (110A) andproviding the damping signals to the damping system 60 (block 120).

The step of block 110A is explained in greater detail, with reference toFIG. 10A. A sub-method for the step of block 110A is illustrated andbegins by the transmission controller 28 determining if an incoming oroutgoing data signal, of the AC wireless signals, is in a “low”(ASK/OOK) or “off” state (OOK), as illustrated at the decision 112. Ifthe state of the data signals or a series of states of the data signalsindicate the beginning or an in-process of transmission or receipt, thenthe transmission controller 28 will instruct the damping circuit tobegin operation in an “active mode,” as illustrated in block 114;otherwise, the block 110A will continue to monitor the data signal forindications of transmission or receipt of the data signals.

The “active mode” refers to a mode for operating the damping circuit 60via, for example, damping signals output by the transmission controller28. When the active mode is on, the damping signal instructs the dampingcircuit to remain “on,” or, in other words, in a state such that theinput to the damping transistor 63 allows for the damping system 60 todissipate at least some power for damping the AC wireless signals.Damping of the AC wireless signal, during the active mode, is performedindependent of the state (“on”/“off” or “high”/“low”) of the datasignals. Thus, the damping circuit 60 does not switch on and off duringthe active mode, in response to changes in state of the data signals.

If transmission of the data is complete, the damping signals willindicate that the damping circuit 60 should transition from the activemode to an inactive mode by proceeding to deactivate signal damping(block 118); otherwise, the sub-method of block 110A will continue tomonitor whether or not the data signal has been fully transmitted orreceived, as illustrated by the decision 116.

Using the damping mode may provide for computational or operatingsimplicity, in comparison to switching the damping circuit 60 inresponse to changes in the state of the data signals. Thus, by utilizingthe active mode operating mode, the computational resources utilized bythe transmission controller 28 for the damping signal may be reducedand/or simplified. Further, by incorporating less switching of thedamping transistor 63, the likelihood of unwanted noise or interferencecaused by physical components of the transmission system 20 to bereduced. Further, due to the reduction in switching, use of the activemode may enhance robustness of the system, by putting less stress on thedamping transistor 63.

The relationship between the data signals and the damping signals isillustrated in the timing diagrams of FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG. 11Aillustrates a first plot 128A for an example data signal (V_(DATA)) anda corresponding first plot 160A for a damping signal (V_(DAMP)) foroutput to the damping circuit 60, when V_(DATA) is encoded via OOK andV_(DATA) and V_(DAMP) exist on an ideal, simultaneous time scale.Similarly, and containing the same data as the plots of FIG. 11A, FIG.11B illustrates a second plot 128B for the example data signal V_(DATA)and a corresponding second plot 160B for the damping signal V_(DAMP),when V_(DATA) is encoded via ASK and V_(DATA) and V_(DAMP) exist on anideal, simultaneous time scale. As illustrated, particularly in FIG.11A, the state of V_(DAMP) may be in the “high” or “on” state, when thestate of V_(DATA) is repeatedly changing and, thus indicating that datais being either transmitted or received. This means that, during datatransmission, whether V_(DATA) is at a “high” or “on” state or at a“low” or “off” state, V_(DAMP) will be at a “high” or “on” state and,thus, in the active mode. Thus, this known relationship between V_(DAMP)and V_(DATA) may be advantageous to reduce computational complexity forexecuting the generation and/or transmission of V_(DAMP), based ontiming of transmission of V_(DATA). Note, that for the purposes ofexplanation, “on” and “high” may be used interchangeably to describethat a two-state signal is in a first state, whereas “off” or “low” maybe used interchangeably to describe that the two-state signal is in asecond state.

FIG. 11C illustrates a third plot 128C for an example data signal(V_(DATA)) and a corresponding third plot 160C for a damping signal(V_(DAMP)) for output to the damping circuit 60, when V_(DATA) isencoded via OOK and V_(DATA) and V_(DAMP) exist on an ideal,simultaneous time scale. Similarly, and containing the same data as theplots of FIG. 11C, FIG. 11D illustrates a fourth plot 128D for theexample data signal V_(DATA) and a corresponding fourth plot 160D forthe damping signal V_(DAMP), when V_(DATA) is encoded via ASK andV_(DATA) and V_(DAMP) exist on an ideal, simultaneous time scale. Insome examples, the determination of when the data transmission ends, bythe transmission controller 28 (block 116) may include monitoring alength of time that the wireless data signals have remained in the“high” or “on” state. If said length of time meets or exceeds athreshold of time (t_(VDoff)), which indicates that the transmission orreceipt of the wireless signals has ended, then the transmissioncontroller 28 decides that the transmission or receipt of data hasended. Thus, if a length of time that the data signal remains high meetsor exceeds t_(VDoff), the damping signals instruct the damping circuitto transition to the “low” or “off” state.

FIG. 11E illustrates a fifth plot 128E for an example data signal(V_(DATA)) and a corresponding fifth plot 160E for a damping signal(V_(DAMP)) for output to the damping circuit 60, when V_(DATA) isencoded via OOK and V_(DATA) and V_(DAMP) exist on an ideal,simultaneous time scale. Similarly, and containing the same data as theplots of FIG. 11E, FIG. 11F illustrates a sixth plot 128F for theexample data signal V_(DATA) and a corresponding sixth plot 160F for thedamping signal V_(DAMP), when V_(DATA) is encoded via ASK and V_(DATA)and V_(DAMP) exist on an ideal, simultaneous time scale. In some suchexamples, as illustrated in FIGS. 11E, 11F, V_(DATA) may include a datamessage for transmission (V_(DATAmsg)) and may include one or both of anon-signal message (V_(DATAon)) and an off-signal message (V_(DATAoff)).

In some examples, V_(DATAon), when read or written by the transmissioncontroller 28, may indicate to the transmission controller that a datasignal is being transmitted or received and, thus, the damping signalshould be instructing the damping circuit 60 to be in the active mode.The damping signal may transition to the active mode upon the first“low” state of V_(DATAon) (as illustrated) and remain on afterverifying, once all of V_(DATAon) is received, that the first “low”state of V_(DATA) was intended as part of V_(DATAon); otherwise, theactive mode may cease if the first “low” state of V_(DATA) is not partof V_(DATAon). In some other examples, the damping signal may delayactivation of the active mode, until V_(DATAon) has been fully receivedand/or verified.

In some additional or alternative examples, V_(DATAoff), when read orwritten by the transmission controller 28, may indicate to thetransmission controller 28 that a data signal is ending transmission orreceipt and, thus, the damping signal should be instructing the dampingcircuit to transition out of the active mode. In some such examples,V_(DATAoff) may proceed or be appended to V_(DATAmsg), within V_(DATA).

In some examples, to detect transmission or receipt of the data signals,the transmission controller 28 may monitor for a moment at which thedata signal transitions from the “high” (ASK/OOK) or “on” (OOK) state tothe “low” or “off” state. When the data signal at the “low” or “off”state, the transmission controller 28 may then monitor the signal for atransition from the “low” or “off” state to the “high” or “on” state, asindicated by the decision 116. If the data signal remains “low” or “off”then the sub-method of block 110A loops back to the decision 116 andcontinues to monitor for a transition; however, when a transition fromthe “low” or “off” state to the “high” or “on” state is detected, thenthe transmission controller 28, via the damping signal, will deactivatethe signal damping of the damping circuit 60, as illustrated in block118. After deactivating the damping circuit 60, the sub-method of block110A returns to decision 112, to monitor for a transition from the“high” or “on” state, to the “low” or “off” state.

Returning now to FIG. 9A, the method 100A proceeds to blocks 130, 132,140. While some of blocks 130, 132, 140 may appear sequential, ideally,blocks 130, 132, 140 are performed simultaneously (with no disadvantageif block 130 is performed prior to blocks 132, 140), thus, the orderingof said blocks in FIG. 9A are not intended to show sequentialperformance. At block 130, the voltage regulator 46 provides theamplifier transistor 47 with a direct current (DC) input signal at aninput voltage (V_(PA)). At block 132, the amplifier transmitter 48receives the driving signals from the transmission controller 28 andreceives V_(PA) from the voltage regulator 46. At block 140, the dampingcircuit 60 and/or the damping transistor 63 thereof receives the dampingsignals. Based on the damping signals, the damping circuit 60 thenselectively damps the AC wireless signals, prior to signal transmissionof the AC wireless signals by the transmission antenna 21.

While blocks 132, 134 may appear to be performed at different times thanblocks 140, 142, respectfully, in ideal conditions, block 130 and 140are performed substantially simultaneously and blocks 134 and 142 areperformed substantially simultaneously. “Substantially simultaneously”refers to ideal simultaneous performance but taking into accountnecessary delays in signal transmission/receipt due to tolerances ofphysical components.

FIG. 9B is another method 100B for operating the wireless transmissionsystem 20, including many similar and/or identical method steps orblocks, compared to the method 100A of FIG. 9A. To that end, the method100B includes the same or similar blocks 102, 104, 106, 120, 132, 134,140, and 142 of method 100A and, thus, the above descriptions thereofalso are applicable to blocks 102, 104, 106, 120, 132, 134, 140, and 142of the method 100B of FIG. 9B. However, blocks 110B and 130B includeadditional features, in comparison to blocks 110A, 110B.

Block 110B, as best illustrated in the sub-method for block 110B of FIG.10B, includes instructing the voltage regulator 46 to raise the inputvoltage (V_(PA)) to an elevated input voltage (V_(PA+)), when thedamping circuit is activated. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, the sub-methodfor block 110B may further include instructing the voltage regulator 46to increase V_(PA) to V_(PA+), when the damping signal is activated(block 115) and to reduce V_(PA+), to return to V_(PA), when the dampingsignal is deactivated (block 117). Similar to FIG. 9B, the sub-methodfor block 110B includes the same or similar blocks 112, 114, 116, 118 ofthe sub-method for block 110A and, thus, the above descriptions thereofalso are applicable to blocks 112, 114, 116, 118 of FIG. 10B.

V_(PA+) may be configured to compensate for the necessary power loss, inthe AC wireless signal, that occurs when the signal is damped by thedamping circuit 60. For example, V_(PA+) may be configured to compensatefor any resistance and/or impedance introduced by the damping circuit,when activated, into the signal path of the AC wireless signals, as itscurrent flows through the wireless transmission system 20. Thus, byselectively raising V_(PA) to V_(PA+), the power output of the ACwireless signal may remain substantially consistent and/or moreconsistent compared to no changes in V_(PA), over a given period oftime.

Turning now to FIG. 12 and with continued reference to, at least, FIGS.1 and 2 , the wireless receiver system 30 is illustrated in furtherdetail. The wireless receiver system 30 is configured to receive, atleast, electrical energy, electrical power, electromagnetic energy,and/or electrically transmittable data via near field magnetic couplingfrom the wireless transmission system 20, via the transmission antenna21. As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the wireless receiver system 30 includes,at least, the receiver antenna 31, a receiver tuning and filteringsystem 34, a power conditioning system 32, a receiver control system 36,and a voltage isolation circuit 70. The receiver tuning and filteringsystem 34 may be configured to substantially match the electricalimpedance of the wireless transmission system 20. In some examples, thereceiver tuning and filtering system 34 may be configured to dynamicallyadjust and substantially match the electrical impedance of the receiverantenna 31 to a characteristic impedance of the power generator or theload at a driving frequency of the transmission antenna 20.

As illustrated, the power conditioning system 32 includes a rectifier 33and a voltage regulator 35. In some examples, the rectifier 33 is inelectrical connection with the receiver tuning and filtering system 34.The rectifier 33 is configured to modify the received electrical energyfrom an alternating current electrical energy signal to a direct currentelectrical energy signal. In some examples, the rectifier 33 iscomprised of at least one diode. Some non-limiting exampleconfigurations for the rectifier 33 include, but are not limited toincluding, a full wave rectifier, including a center tapped full waverectifier and a full wave rectifier with filter, a half wave rectifier,including a half wave rectifier with filter, a bridge rectifier,including a bridge rectifier with filter, a split supply rectifier, asingle phase rectifier, a three phase rectifier, a voltage doubler, asynchronous voltage rectifier, a controlled rectifier, an uncontrolledrectifier, and a half controlled rectifier. As electronic devices may besensitive to voltage, additional protection of the electronic device maybe provided by clipper circuits or devices. In this respect, therectifier 33 may further include a clipper circuit or a clipper device,which is a circuit or device that removes either the positive half (tophalf), the negative half (bottom half), or both the positive and thenegative halves of an input AC signal. In other words, a clipper is acircuit or device that limits the positive amplitude, the negativeamplitude, or both the positive and the negative amplitudes of the inputAC signal.

Some non-limiting examples of a voltage regulator 35 include, but arenot limited to, including a series linear voltage regulator, a buckconvertor, a low dropout (LDO) regulator, a shunt linear voltageregulator, a step up switching voltage regulator, a step down switchingvoltage regulator, an invertor voltage regulator, a Zener controlledtransistor series voltage regulator, a charge pump regulator, and anemitter follower voltage regulator. The voltage regulator 35 may furtherinclude a voltage multiplier, which is as an electronic circuit ordevice that delivers an output voltage having an amplitude (peak value)that is two, three, or more times greater than the amplitude (peakvalue) of the input voltage. The voltage regulator 35 is in electricalconnection with the rectifier 33 and configured to adjust the amplitudeof the electrical voltage of the wirelessly received electrical energysignal, after conversion to AC by the rectifier 33. In some examples,the voltage regulator 35 may an LDO linear voltage regulator; however,other voltage regulation circuits and/or systems are contemplated. Asillustrated, the direct current electrical energy signal output by thevoltage regulator 35 is received at the load 16 of the electronic device14. In some examples, a portion of the direct current electrical powersignal may be utilized to power the receiver control system 36 and anycomponents thereof; however, it is certainly possible that the receivercontrol system 36, and any components thereof, may be powered and/orreceive signals from the load 16 (e.g., when the load 16 is a batteryand/or other power source) and/or other components of the electronicdevice 14.

The receiver control system 36 may include, but is not limited toincluding, a receiver controller 38, a communications system 39 and amemory 37. The receiver controller 38 may be any electronic controlleror computing system that includes, at least, a processor which performsoperations, executes control algorithms, stores data, retrieves data,gathers data, controls and/or provides communication with othercomponents and/or subsystems associated with the wireless receiversystem 30. The receiver controller 38 may be a single controller or mayinclude more than one controller disposed to control various functionsand/or features of the wireless receiver system 30. Functionality of thereceiver controller 38 may be implemented in hardware and/or softwareand may rely on one or more data maps relating to the operation of thewireless receiver system 30. To that end, the receiver controller 38 maybe operatively associated with the memory 37. The memory may include oneor both of internal memory, external memory, and/or remote memory (e.g.,a database and/or server operatively connected to the receivercontroller 38 via a network, such as, but not limited to, the Internet).The internal memory and/or external memory may include, but are notlimited to including, one or more of a read only memory (ROM), includingprogrammable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or sometimes but rarely labelled EROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random access memory(RAM), including dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), single data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRSDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3,DDR4), and graphics double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (GDDRSDRAM, GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4, GDDR5, a flash memory, a portable memory,and the like. Such memory media are examples of nontransitory computerreadable memory media.

Further, while particular elements of the receiver control system 36 areillustrated as subcomponents and/or circuits (e.g., the memory 37, thecommunications system 39, among other contemplated elements) of thereceiver control system 36, such components may be external of thereceiver controller 38. In some examples, the receiver controller 38 maybe and/or include one or more integrated circuits configured to includefunctional elements of one or both of the receiver controller 38 and thewireless receiver system 30, generally. As used herein, the term“integrated circuits” generally refers to a circuit in which all or someof the circuit elements are inseparably associated and electricallyinterconnected so that it is considered to be indivisible for thepurposes of construction and commerce. Such integrated circuits mayinclude, but are not limited to including, thin-film transistors,thick-film technologies, and/or hybrid integrated circuits.

In some examples, the receiver controller 38 may be a dedicated circuitconfigured to send and receive data at a given operating frequency. Forexample, the receiver controller 38 may be a tagging or identifierintegrated circuit, such as, but not limited to, an NFC tag and/orlabelling integrated circuit. Examples of such NFC tags and/or labellingintegrated circuits include the NTAG® family of integrated circuitsmanufactured by NXP Semiconductors N.V. However, the communicationssystem 39 is certainly not limited to these example components and, insome examples, the communications system 39 may be implemented withanother integrated circuit (e.g., integrated with the receivercontroller 38), and/or may be another transceiver of or operativelyassociated with one or both of the electronic device 14 and the wirelessreceiver system 30, among other contemplated communication systemsand/or apparatus. Further, in some examples, functions of thecommunications system 39 may be integrated with the receiver controller38, such that the controller modifies the inductive field between theantennas 21, 31 to communicate in the frequency band of wireless powertransfer operating frequency.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example, non-limiting embodiment of one or moreof the transmission antenna 21 and the receiver antenna 31 that may beused with any of the systems, methods, and/or apparatus disclosedherein. In the illustrated embodiment, the antenna 21, 31, is a flatspiral coil configuration. Non-limiting examples can be found in U.S.Pat. Nos. 9,941,743, 9,960,628, 9,941,743 all to Peralta et al.;9,948,129, 10,063,100 to Singh et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 9,941,590 toLuzinski; U.S. Pat. No. 9,960,629 to Rajagopalan et al.; and U.S. PatentApp. Nos. 2017/0040107, 2017/0040105, 2017/0040688 to Peralta et al.;all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application andincorporated fully herein by reference.

In addition, the antenna 21, 31 may be constructed having amulti-layer-multi-turn (MLMT) construction in which at least oneinsulator is positioned between a plurality of conductors. Non-limitingexamples of antennas having an MLMT construction that may beincorporated within the wireless transmission system(s) 20 and/or thewireless receiver system(s) 30 may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,610,530,8,653,927, 8,680,960, 8,692,641, 8,692,642, 8,698,590, 8,698,591,8,707,546, 8,710,948, 8,803,649, 8,823,481, 8,823,482, 8,855,786,8,898,885, 9,208,942, 9,232,893, and 9,300,046 to Singh et al., all ofwhich are assigned to the assignee of the present application areincorporated fully herein. These are merely exemplary antenna examples;however, it is contemplated that the antennas 21, 31 may be any antennacapable of the aforementioned higher power, high frequency wirelesspower transfer.

FIG. 14 is an example block diagram for a method 1000 of designing asystem for wirelessly transferring one or more of electrical energy,electrical power, electromagnetic energy, and electronic data, inaccordance with the systems, methods, and apparatus of the presentdisclosure. To that end, the method 1000 may be utilized to design asystem in accordance with any disclosed embodiments of the system 10 andany components thereof.

At block 1200, the method 1000 includes designing a wirelesstransmission system for use in the system 10. The wireless transmissionsystem designed at block 1200 may be designed in accordance with one ormore of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the wirelesstransmission system 20, in whole or in part and, optionally, includingany components thereof. Block 1200 may be implemented as a method 1200for designing a wireless transmission system.

Turning now to FIG. 15 and with continued reference to the method 1000of FIG. 14 , an example block diagram for the method 1200 for designinga wireless transmission system is illustrated. The wireless transmissionsystem designed by the method 1200 may be designed in accordance withone or more of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of thewireless transmission system 20 in whole or in part and, optionally,including any components thereof. The method 1200 includes designingand/or selecting a transmission antenna for the wireless transmissionsystem, as illustrated in block 1210. The designed and/or selectedtransmission antenna may be designed and/or selected in accordance withone or more of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of thetransmission antenna 21, in whole or in part and including anycomponents thereof. The method 1200 also includes designing and/ortuning a transmission tuning system for the wireless transmissionsystem, as illustrated in block 1220. Such designing and/or tuning maybe utilized for, but not limited to being utilized for, impedancematching, as discussed in more detail above. The designed and/or tunedtransmission tuning system may be designed and/or tuned in accordancewith one or more of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments ofwireless transmission system 20, in whole or in part and, optionally,including any components thereof.

The method 1200 further includes designing a power conditioning systemfor the wireless transmission system, as illustrated in block 1230. Thepower conditioning system designed may be designed with any of aplurality of power output characteristic considerations, such as, butnot limited to, power transfer efficiency, maximizing a transmission gap(e.g., the gap 17), increasing output voltage to a receiver, mitigatingpower losses during wireless power transfer, increasing power outputwithout degrading fidelity for data communications, optimizing poweroutput for multiple coils receiving power from a common circuit and/oramplifier, among other contemplated power output characteristicconsiderations. The power conditioning system may be designed inaccordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the power conditioning system 40, in whole or in partand, optionally, including any components thereof. Further, at block1240, the method 1200 may involve determining and/or optimizing aconnection, and any associated connection components, between the inputpower source 12 and the power conditioning system that is designed atblock 1230. Such determining and/or optimizing may include selecting andimplementing protection mechanisms and/or apparatus, selecting and/orimplementing voltage protection mechanisms, among other things.

The method 1200 further includes designing and/or programing atransmission control system of the wireless transmission system of themethod 1000, as illustrated in block 1250. The designed transmissioncontrol system may be designed in accordance with one or more of theaforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the transmission controlsystem 26, in whole or in part and, optionally, including any componentsthereof. Such components thereof include, but are not limited toincluding, the sensing system 50, the driver 41, the transmissioncontroller 28, the memory 27, the communications system 29, the thermalsensing system 52, the object sensing system 54, the receiver sensingsystem 56, the other sensor(s) 58, the gate voltage regulator 43, thePWM generator 41, the frequency generator 348, in whole or in part and,optionally, including any components thereof.

Returning now to FIG. 14 , at block 1300, the method 1000 includesdesigning a wireless receiver system for use in the system 10. Thewireless transmission system designed at block 1300 may be designed inaccordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the wireless receiver system 30 in whole or in part and,optionally, including any components thereof. Block 1300 may beimplemented as a method 1300 for designing a wireless receiver system.

Turning now to FIG. 16 and with continued reference to the method 1000of FIG. 14 , an example block diagram for the method 1300 for designinga wireless receiver system is illustrated. The wireless receiver systemdesigned by the method 1300 may be designed in accordance with one ormore of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the wirelessreceiver system 30 in whole or in part and, optionally, including anycomponents thereof. The method 1300 includes designing and/or selectinga receiver antenna for the wireless receiver system, as illustrated inblock 1310. The designed and/or selected receiver antenna may bedesigned and/or selected in accordance with one or more of theaforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the receiver antenna 31, inwhole or in part and including any components thereof. The method 1300includes designing and/or tuning a receiver tuning system for thewireless receiver system, as illustrated in block 1320. Such designingand/or tuning may be utilized for, but not limited to being utilizedfor, impedance matching, as discussed in more detail above. The designedand/or tuned receiver tuning system may be designed and/or tuned inaccordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the receiver tuning and filtering system 34 in whole orin part and/or, optionally, including any components thereof.

The method 1300 further includes designing a power conditioning systemfor the wireless receiver system, as illustrated in block 1330. Thepower conditioning system may be designed with any of a plurality ofpower output characteristic considerations, such as, but not limited to,power transfer efficiency, maximizing a transmission gap (e.g., the gap17), increasing output voltage to a receiver, mitigating power lossesduring wireless power transfer, increasing power output withoutdegrading fidelity for data communications, optimizing power output formultiple coils receiving power from a common circuit and/or amplifier,among other contemplated power output characteristic considerations. Thepower conditioning system may be designed in accordance with one or moreof the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the powerconditioning system 32 in whole or in part and, optionally, includingany components thereof. Further, at block 1340, the method 1300 mayinvolve determining and/or optimizing a connection, and any associatedconnection components, between the load 16 and the power conditioningsystem of block 1330. Such determining may include selecting andimplementing protection mechanisms and/or apparatus, selecting and/orimplementing voltage protection mechanisms, among other things.

The method 1300 further includes designing and/or programing a receivercontrol system of the wireless receiver system of the method 1300, asillustrated in block 1350. The designed receiver control system may bedesigned in accordance with one or more of the aforementioned anddisclosed embodiments of the receiver control system 36 in whole or inpart and, optionally, including any components thereof. Such componentsthereof include, but are not limited to including, the receivercontroller 38, the memory 37, and the communications system 39, in wholeor in part and, optionally, including any components thereof.

Returning now to the method 1000 of FIG. 14 , the method 1000 furtherincludes, at block 1400, optimizing and/or tuning both the wirelesstransmission system and the wireless receiver system for wireless powertransfer. Such optimizing and/or tuning includes, but is not limited toincluding, controlling and/or tuning parameters of system components tomatch impedance, optimize and/or set voltage and/or power levels of anoutput power signal, among other things and in accordance with any ofthe disclosed systems, methods, and apparatus herein. Further, themethod 1000 includes optimizing and/or tuning one or both of thewireless transmission system and the wireless receiver system for datacommunications, in view of system characteristics necessary for wirelesspower transfer. Such optimizing and/or tuning includes, but is notlimited to including, optimizing power characteristics for concurrenttransmission of electrical power signals and electrical data signals,tuning quality factors of antennas for different transmission schemes,among other things and in accordance with any of the disclosed systems,methods, and apparatus herein.

FIG. 17 is an example block diagram for a method 2000 for manufacturinga system for wirelessly transferring one or both of electrical powersignals and electrical data signals, in accordance with the systems,methods, and apparatus of the present disclosure. To that end, themethod 2000 may be utilized to manufacture a system in accordance withany disclosed embodiments of the system 10 and any components thereof.

At block 2200, the method 2000 includes manufacturing a wirelesstransmission system for use in the system 10. The wireless transmissionsystem manufactured at block 2200 may be designed in accordance with oneor more of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the wirelesstransmission system 20 in whole or in part and, optionally, includingany components thereof. Block 2200 may be implemented as a method 2200for manufacturing a wireless transmission system.

Turning now to FIG. 18 and with continued reference to the method 2000of FIG. 17 , an example block diagram for the method 2200 formanufacturing a wireless transmission system is illustrated. Thewireless transmission system manufactured by the method 2200 may bemanufactured in accordance with one or more of the aforementioned anddisclosed embodiments of the wireless transmission system 20 in whole orin part and, optionally, including any components thereof. The method2200 includes manufacturing a transmission antenna for the wirelesstransmission system, as illustrated in block 2210. The manufacturedtransmission system may be built and/or tuned in accordance with one ormore of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the transmissionantenna 21, in whole or in part and including any components thereof.The method 2200 also includes building and/or tuning a transmissiontuning system for the wireless transmission system, as illustrated inblock 2220. Such building and/or tuning may be utilized for, but notlimited to being utilized for, impedance matching, as discussed in moredetail above. The built and/or tuned transmission tuning system may bedesigned and/or tuned in accordance with one or more of theaforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the transmission tuningsystem 24, in whole or in part and, optionally, including any componentsthereof.

The method 2200 further includes selecting and/or connecting a powerconditioning system for the wireless transmission system, as illustratedin block 2230. The power conditioning system manufactured may bedesigned with any of a plurality of power output characteristicconsiderations, such as, but not limited to, power transfer efficiency,maximizing a transmission gap (e.g., the gap 17), increasing outputvoltage to a receiver, mitigating power losses during wireless powertransfer, increasing power output without degrading fidelity for datacommunications, optimizing power output for multiple coils receivingpower from a common circuit and/or amplifier, among other contemplatedpower output characteristic considerations. The power conditioningsystem may be designed in accordance with one or more of theaforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the power conditioningsystem 40 in whole or in part and, optionally, including any componentsthereof. Further, at block 2240, the method 2200 involve determiningand/or optimizing a connection, and any associated connectioncomponents, between the input power source 12 and the power conditioningsystem of block 2230. Such determining may include selecting andimplementing protection mechanisms and/or apparatus, selecting and/orimplementing voltage protection mechanisms, among other things.

The method 2200 further includes assembling and/or programing atransmission control system of the wireless transmission system of themethod 2000, as illustrated in block 2250. The assembled transmissioncontrol system may be assembled and/or programmed in accordance with oneor more of the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of thetransmission control system 26 in whole or in part and, optionally,including any components thereof. Such components thereof include, butare not limited to including, the sensing system 50, the driver 41, thetransmission controller 28, the memory 27, the communications system 29,the thermal sensing system 52, the object sensing system 54, thereceiver sensing system 56, the other sensor(s) 58, the gate voltageregulator 43, the PWM generator 41, the frequency generator 348, inwhole or in part and, optionally, including any components thereof.

Returning now to FIG. 17 , at block 2300, the method 2000 includesmanufacturing a wireless receiver system for use in the system 10. Thewireless transmission system manufactured at block 2300 may be designedin accordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the wireless receiver system 30 in whole or in part and,optionally, including any components thereof. Block 2300 may beimplemented as a method 2300 for manufacturing a wireless receiversystem.

Turning now to FIG. 19 and with continued reference to the method 2000of FIG. 17 , an example block diagram for the method 2300 formanufacturing a wireless receiver system is illustrated. The wirelessreceiver system manufactured by the method 2300 may be designed inaccordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the wireless receiver system 30 in whole or in part and,optionally, including any components thereof. The method 2300 includesmanufacturing a receiver antenna for the wireless receiver system, asillustrated in block 2310. The manufactured receiver antenna may bemanufactured, designed, and/or selected in accordance with one or moreof the aforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the receiver antenna31 in whole or in part and including any components thereof. The method2300 includes building and/or tuning a receiver tuning system for thewireless receiver system, as illustrated in block 2320. Such buildingand/or tuning may be utilized for, but not limited to being utilizedfor, impedance matching, as discussed in more detail above. The builtand/or tuned receiver tuning system may be designed and/or tuned inaccordance with one or more of the aforementioned and disclosedembodiments of the receiver tuning and filtering system 34 in whole orin part and, optionally, including any components thereof.

The method 2300 further includes selecting and/or connecting a powerconditioning system for the wireless receiver system, as illustrated inblock 2330. The power conditioning system designed may be designed withany of a plurality of power output characteristic considerations, suchas, but not limited to, power transfer efficiency, maximizing atransmission gap (e.g., the gap 17), increasing output voltage to areceiver, mitigating power losses during wireless power transfer,increasing power output without degrading fidelity for datacommunications, optimizing power output for multiple coils receivingpower from a common circuit and/or amplifier, among other contemplatedpower output characteristic considerations. The power conditioningsystem may be designed in accordance with one or more of theaforementioned and disclosed embodiments of the power conditioningsystem 32 in whole or in part and, optionally, including any componentsthereof. Further, at block 2340, the method 2300 may involve determiningand/or optimizing a connection, and any associated connectioncomponents, between the load 16 and the power conditioning system ofblock 2330. Such determining may include selecting and implementingprotection mechanisms and/or apparatus, selecting and/or implementingvoltage protection mechanisms, among other things.

The method 2300 further includes assembling and/or programing a receivercontrol system of the wireless receiver system of the method 2300, asillustrated in block 2350. The assembled receiver control system may bedesigned in accordance with one or more of the aforementioned anddisclosed embodiments of the receiver control system 36 in whole or inpart and, optionally, including any components thereof. Such componentsthereof include, but are not limited to including, the receivercontroller 38, the memory 37, and the communications system 39, in wholeor in part and, optionally, including any components thereof.

Returning now to the method 2000 of FIG. 17 , the method 2000 furtherincludes, at block 2400, optimizing and/or tuning both the wirelesstransmission system and the wireless receiver system for wireless powertransfer. Such optimizing and/or tuning includes, but is not limited toincluding, controlling and/or tuning parameters of system components tomatch impedance, optimize and/or configure voltage and/or power levelsof an output power signal, among other things and in accordance with anyof the disclosed systems, methods, and apparatus herein. Further, themethod 2000 includes optimizing and/or tuning one or both of thewireless transmission system and the wireless receiver system for datacommunications, in view of system characteristics necessary for wirelesspower transfer, as illustrated at block 2500. Such optimizing and/ortuning includes, but is not limited to including, optimizing powercharacteristics for concurrent transmission of electrical power signalsand electrical data signals, tuning quality factors of antennas fordifferent transmission schemes, among other things and in accordancewith any of the disclosed systems, methods, and apparatus herein.

The systems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein are designed tooperate in an efficient, stable and reliable manner to satisfy a varietyof operating and environmental conditions. The systems, methods, and/orapparatus disclosed herein are designed to operate in a wide range ofthermal and mechanical stress environments so that data and/orelectrical energy is transmitted efficiently and with minimal loss. Inaddition, the system 10 may be designed with a small form factor using afabrication technology that allows for scalability, and at a cost thatis amenable to developers and adopters. In addition, the systems,methods, and apparatus disclosed herein may be designed to operate overa wide range of frequencies to meet the requirements of a wide range ofapplications.

In an embodiment, a ferrite shield may be incorporated within theantenna structure to improve antenna performance. Selection of theferrite shield material may be dependent on the operating frequency asthe complex magnetic permeability (μ=μ′−j*μ″) is frequency dependent.The material may be a polymer, a sintered flexible ferrite sheet, arigid shield, or a hybrid shield, wherein the hybrid shield comprises arigid portion and a flexible portion. Additionally, the magnetic shieldmay be composed of varying material compositions. Examples of materialsmay include, but are not limited to, zinc comprising ferrite materialssuch as manganese-zinc, nickel-zinc, copper-zinc, magnesium-zinc, andcombinations thereof.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series ofitems, with the term “and” or “or” to separate any of the items,modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e.,each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection ofat least one of each item listed; rather, the phrase allows a meaningthat includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least oneof any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of theitems. By way of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or“at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C;any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, andC.

The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to”do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of asubject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. In one ormore embodiments, a processor configured to monitor and control anoperation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed tomonitor and control the operation or the processor being operable tomonitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured toexecute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute codeor operable to execute code.

A phrase such as “an aspect” does not imply that such aspect isessential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to allconfigurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to anaspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.An aspect may provide one or more examples of the disclosure. A phrasesuch as an “aspect” may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. Aphrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment isessential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies toall configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating toan embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.An embodiment may provide one or more examples of the disclosure. Aphrase such an “embodiment” may refer to one or more embodiments andvice versa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that suchconfiguration is essential to the subject technology or that suchconfiguration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. Adisclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations,or one or more configurations. A configuration may provide one or moreexamples of the disclosure. A phrase such as a “configuration” may referto one or more configurations and vice versa.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” or as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in thedescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extentthat the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the descriptionor the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similarto the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in thecase of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “stepfor.”

Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.”Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one ormore. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine andneuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. Headings andsubheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit thesubject disclosure.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but ratheras descriptions of particular implementations of the subject matter.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a sub combination.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating a wireless powertransmission system, the method including: providing, by a transmissioncontroller of the wireless power transmission system, a driving signalfor driving a transmission antenna of the wireless power transmissionsystem, the driving signal based, at least, on an operating frequencyfor the wireless power transmission system; receiving, by at least onetransistor of an amplifier of the wireless power transmission system,the driving signal at a gate of the at least one transistor; inverting,by the at least one transistor, a direct current (DC) input power signalto generate AC wireless signals at the operating frequency; determiningif transmission or receipt of wireless data signals has begun bydetermining if the wireless data signals have transitioned from a “high”state to a “low” state; determining instructions to switch a dampingcircuit to an active mode, when transmission or receipt of the wirelessdata signals begins; receiving, at a damping transistor of a dampingcircuit, a damping signal for switching the damping transistor to one ofan active mode or an inactive mode to control signal damping duringtransmission or receipt of wireless data signals, wherein the wirelessdata signals are one of on-off-keyed (OOK) in-band data signals oramplitude-shift-keyed (ASK) in-band data signals; and selectivelydamping, by the damping circuit, the AC wireless signals, duringtransmission of the wireless data signals if the damping signal sets thedamping circuit to the active mode.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining if the wireless data signals have transitioned from a “high”state to a “low” state” is based, at least in part, on quality factorinformation (Q_(Rx)) of a wireless receiver system to which the wirelesspower transmission system is configured to transmit the AC wirelesssignals.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving Q_(Rx),by the transmission controller, from a receiver sensing system of thewireless power transmission system.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining if the transmission or receipt of the wireless data signalshas begun includes monitoring the wireless data signals and, determiningthat a data start message has been detected.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining if transmission or receipt of thewireless data signals has ended, and determining instructions to switchthe damping circuit to the inactive mode, when transmission or receiptof the wireless data signals ends.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereindetermining if transmission or receipt of the wireless data signals hasended includes monitoring a length of time that the wireless datasignals have remained high, and, determining that the length of timemeets or exceeds a threshold indicating that the transmission or receiptof the wireless data signals has ended.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein determining if the transmission or receipt of the wireless datasignals has ended includes monitoring the wireless data signals and,determining that a data end message is detected.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising instructing a power conditioning system of thewireless power transmission system to raise an input voltage (V_(PA)) tothe at least one transistor to an elevated input voltage (V_(PA+)) whenthe damping circuit in the active mode, V_(PA+) configured to compensatefor power loss in the wireless power transmission system due toactivation of the damping circuit.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising instructing the power conditioning system to reduce V_(PA+)to V_(PA), when the damping signal is deactivated.
 10. A wireless powertransmission system comprising: a transmission antenna configured tocouple with at least one other antenna and transmit alternating current(AC) wireless signals to the at least one other antenna, the AC wirelesssignals including wireless power signals and wireless data signals,wherein the wireless data signals are one of on-off-keyed (OOK) in-banddata signals or amplitude-shift-keyed (ASK) in-band data signals; anamplifier, the amplifier including: at least one transistor that isconfigured to (i) receive a driving signal at a gate of the at least onetransistor, the driving signal configured to drive the transmissionantenna based on an operating frequency for the wireless powertransmission system and (ii) invert a direct current (DC) input powersignal based on the driving signal, to generate the AC wireless signalat an operating frequency, and a damping circuit that is configured todampen the AC wireless signals during transmission of the wireless datasignals, wherein the damping circuit includes at least a dampingtransistor that is configured to receive a damping signal for switchingthe damping transistor to one of an active mode or an inactive mode tocontrol signal damping during transmission or receipt of the wirelessdata signals; and a transmission controller that is configured to (i)provide the driving signals to the at least one transistor, (ii)determine if transmission or receipt of the wireless data signals hasbegun by determining if the wireless data signals have transitioned froma “high” state to a “low” state, (iii) determine instructions to switchthe damping circuit to an active mode, when transmission or receipt ofthe wireless data signals begins, (iv) generate the damping signal bydetermining when the wireless data signals are transmitted andgenerating instructions to operate the damping circuit in the activemode when the wireless data signals are transmitted, and (v) perform oneor more of encoding the wireless data signals, decoding the wirelessdata signals, receiving the wireless data signals, or transmitting thewireless data signals.
 11. The wireless power transmission system ofclaim 10, further comprising a voltage regulator configured to providethe direct current (DC) input power to the at least one transistor at aninput voltage (V_(PA)), and wherein the transmission controller isfurther configured to instruct the voltage regulator to increase V_(PA)to an elevated input voltage (V_(PA+)) when the damping circuit is inthe active mode, V_(PA+) configured to compensate for power loss in thewireless power transmission system due to activation of the dampingcircuit.
 12. The wireless power transmission system of claim 11, whereinthe transmission controller is further configured to instruct thevoltage regulator to reduce V_(PA+) to V_(PA), when the damping signalindicates that the damping signal is to be in the inactive mode.
 13. Thewireless power transmission system of claim 10, wherein the dampingcircuit further includes a damping resistor that is in electrical serieswith the damping transistor and is configured for dissipating at leastsome power from the wireless power signals.
 14. The wireless powertransmission system of claim 10, wherein the damping circuit furtherincludes a damping capacitor that is in electrical series with, atleast, the damping transistor.
 15. The wireless power transmissionsystem of claim 10, wherein the damping circuit further includes a diodethat is in electrical series with, at least, the damping transistor andis configured for preventing power efficiency loss in the wireless powersignals when the damping circuit is not active.
 16. A non-transitory,machine-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed,cause a controller to: determine a driving signal for driving atransmitter antenna of a wireless power transmission system, the drivingsignal based, at least, on an operating frequency for the wireless powertransmission system; provide the driving signal to at least onetransistor of an amplifier of the wireless power transmission system ata gate of the at least one transistor; determine a damping signal for adamping transistor of a damping circuit, the damping signal configuredto switch the damping transistor to one of an active mode or an inactivemode to control signal damping during transmission or receipt ofwireless data signals, the wireless data signals encoded in-band of ACwireless power signals, the AC wireless power signals generated based onthe driving signal, wherein the wireless data signals are one ofon-off-keyed (OOK) in-band data signals or amplitude-shift-keyed (ASK)in-band data signals; determine if transmission or receipt of thewireless data signals has begun by determining if the wireless datasignals have transitioned from a “high” state to a “low” state; andprovide the damping signal to the damping circuit, the damping signalinstructing the damping circuit to selectively damp the AC wirelesssignals based, at least in part, on wireless data signals that arein-band of the AC wireless signals.